Telephone Support in Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancer

Description

The goal of this clinical trial is to see if telephone support programs help patients and their family caregivers adjust to advanced gastrointestinal cancer. A new telephone counseling program that involves practicing strategies for managing stress and symptoms will be compared to a telephone program involving education on quality-of-life issues and psychosocial support. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does our telephone counseling program lower the negative impact of patients' fatigue on their activities, emotions, and thinking abilities compared to a telephone program involving education and support? Does our telephone counseling program lower family caregivers' feelings of burden compared to a telephone program involving education and support? Participants in both study conditions will: Complete 6 weekly telephone sessions of counseling or education/support Complete a telephone booster session Complete 3 telephone interviews over about 5 months

Conditions

Gastrointestinal Neoplasm Malignant, Caregiver Burden

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Study Overview

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Study Details

Study overview

The goal of this clinical trial is to see if telephone support programs help patients and their family caregivers adjust to advanced gastrointestinal cancer. A new telephone counseling program that involves practicing strategies for managing stress and symptoms will be compared to a telephone program involving education on quality-of-life issues and psychosocial support. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does our telephone counseling program lower the negative impact of patients' fatigue on their activities, emotions, and thinking abilities compared to a telephone program involving education and support? Does our telephone counseling program lower family caregivers' feelings of burden compared to a telephone program involving education and support? Participants in both study conditions will: Complete 6 weekly telephone sessions of counseling or education/support Complete a telephone booster session Complete 3 telephone interviews over about 5 months

Telephone Support Program for Patients With Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancer and Their Family Caregivers

Telephone Support in Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancer

Condition
Gastrointestinal Neoplasm Malignant
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Chicago

Northwestern Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611

Indianapolis

Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46202

Indianapolis

Indiana University Health, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46202

Houston

MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States, 77030

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Patient is at least 3 weeks post-diagnosis of unresectable stage III or stage IV gastrointestinal cancer (i.e., anal, colon, esophageal, gallbladder, liver, pancreatic, rectal, small intestine, or stomach cancer) and is receiving cancer care at one of the study sites.
  • * Patient is at least 18 years of age.
  • * Patient can speak and read English.
  • * Patient has an eligible, consenting family caregiver (see criteria below).
  • * Patient has moderate to severe fatigue interference with functioning.
  • * Patient shows significant psychiatric or cognitive impairment that would preclude providing informed consent and study participation.
  • * Patient reports being able to do little activity on a functional status measure.
  • * Patient is receiving hospice care at screening.
  • * Patient does not have working phone service.
  • * Patient has hearing impairment that precludes participation.
  • * Patient participated in the pilot trial testing the same intervention.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

Indiana University,

Catherine E Mosher, Ph.D., PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Indiana University Indianapolis

Study Record Dates

2029-02